OnTheMarket (OTM) has announced that it has secured the support of yet another major estate agency, as part of an ongoing public relations campaign.
The signing of Rettie, which operates in Scotland and the North of England, was announced this morning and follows on from the recent announcements that Leaders Romans Group and Edward Mellor had selected OTM ‘as one of just two major platforms it will be listing properties with going forward’.
OTM, as part of its ambition to increase market share, is keen to specify that all three agencies – LRG, Edward Mellor and Rettie – have adopted a ‘two portal strategy’, with a quick online search revealing that they have all opted for Rightmove – and not Zoopla – as their one other major website.
When OTM launched a decade ago, it did so with a view to increasing market share, mainly at the expense of Zoopla, and it would appear that history is repeating itself, albeit without the previous ‘one other portal’ rule once imposed by OTM, which banned its agents advertising on both Rightmove and Zoopla.
While OTM has so far failed to dislodge Rightmove and Zoopla as the two biggest portals, it has made some inroads into this highly competitive market, and with the backing of CoStar, now firmly believes it can replace Zoopla as the number two property portal on its way to achieving its longer-term objective of challenging the market leader, Rightmove.
Jason Tebb, president of OTM, said: “We are delighted that Rettie has become the latest agency network to commit to OnTheMarket. The addition of such a strong regional brand continues our momentum and further strengthens our presence in the region as we continue our push for growth across the country.
“The business is making tremendous progress towards its goal of becoming the leading agent-friendly platform in the UK residential marketplace. We believe that we are now the fastest growing residential portal in the UK following the acquisition by CoStar Group.”
It’s great that, within the industry, agents are taking note of OTM more and more, but surely, its what OTM are doing with regards getting the brand / name directly in front of the consumer, in a way that the consumer sees them as a viable portal to visit, thats the priority?
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We are attending a OTM roadshow today so will find out the plan hopefully.
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they are signing up….because it is free…..for a year…..
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OTM / CoStar have very Deep pockets and will buy their way to the number one spot Rightmove an Zoopla have no chance with their measly marketing spend.
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How? How do you change the mindset of a nation?
Ask anyone in the street where they go to search for properties, at the moment the majority will say RM.
It will need years of sustained marketing on TV, radio, billboards, train/tube stations etc and even then it may not work.
What do you offer the public to start their search with OTM?
I think they will spend a lot of money going from #3 to #2 and the agents will pay for it, somehow. CoStar isn’t a charity so it will either be through subscription or taking the ancillary income away from agents.
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You should attend one of the road shows you will see what they intend to do, their statement is not to charge high prices after seeing the figures on profits Rightmove are defiantly taking the ****.
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RM are the go to like Amazon, ask the punter in the street so will take years to change.
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I’m not so sure anymore re RM, they are less and less the byword, been trying to ingratiate themselves now with agents via training/compliance/data boondoggles, even their advertising to the consumer must be getting annoying when happy kids running alongside the family dog in a big suburban garden is patently not the UK experience except for a lucky few, ditto the wedged up young professional couple in a flat overlooking the canal, these tropes are old fashioned, trite, banal and vacuous.
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Agents might show less hostility towards RM if their rates were reasonable. A 71% profit doesn’t sit well with agents, especially when RM continually hypes up their rates each year.
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